Sunday, 28 May 2017

Prayers for Manchester in Castletown and Rathkeale

Candles lit for a vigil for Manchester in Lichfield Cathedral last week

Patrick Comerford

In my sermons this morning [28 May 2017] at Morning Prayer in Castletown Church, Kilcornan, and in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, Co Limerick, I tried to discuss the questions that last week’s suicide bombing in Manchester raise for Christian hope and love as come to end of Easter-tide and live in the ‘in-between time’ between the Day of Ascension and the Day of Pentecost.

These thoughts were also reflected in the prayers I read in both church this morning, drawing on prayers that came to my attention through USPG and through Manchester Cathedral.

These were among the prayers this morning:

Prayers for Manchester:

A prayer written by the Dean of Southwark, the Very Revd Andrew Nunn, for those affected by the bombing in Manchester, and shared by the Anglican mission agency, USPG:

‘In the midst of life we are in death.’
Lord, in a place of pleasure, terror struck,
in a place of life, death came,
Hold us in our shock and grief,
comfort the distressed,
heal the injured,
calm the anxious,
reunite the separated,
console the bereaved,
and give rest and everlasting peace
to those who have died,
for your love never fails
and through the darkness
your light always shines.
Amen.

The Revd Rachel Mann is an Anglican priest and poet. She is the Priest-in-Charge at the Church of Saint Nicholas, Burnage, in Manchester, Resident Poet at Manchester Cathedral, and a regular contributor to The Church Times and the BBC Radio 2’s ‘Pause For Thought.’ Her prayers for Manchester have been shared on her blog and by the Anglican Communion:

Compassionate God,
whose Love dares to dwell in the midst of us.
Be with the people of Manchester today.
Grieve with us in our grief,
search with us as we seek out lost loved ones,
wait with us in the anxiety of unknowing.

Help us to give thanks for the people of Manchester –
warm, open, generous and resilient;
Help us to draw on the spirit of solidarity
and the defiance in loss of this great city.
Be with our emergency services
in this time of trial.

In the midst of our fears,
and the fierce pain of loss;
when our commitment to justice
and mercy and kindness
is tested by death and terror,
be with us, O Lord.

Today let us mourn, let us weep;
meet us in our anger,
fear and disbelief.